Mark Dolan

Mark Dolan

Mark Dolan is a comedian, writer and presenter who made his name in the 2002 hidden camera series, The Richard Taylor Interviews, in which he gave job applicants horrendous interviews.

He has fronted The Last Word debate show on More 4 and appeared on Sky One's movie review show Popcorn, but is probably best known for hosting Channel 4's Friday night entertainment show, Balls of Steel in 2005 and 2006.

Dolan started his career on the live circuit, where he still appears, making it to the finals of new act competition So You Think You’re Funny in 2000.

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Mark Dolan goes solo after GB News sacking

'I'm different. I just say what I think'

Mark Dolan has broken his silence about getting sacked from GB News.

However apart from confirming the decision to leave the channel after three-and-a-half years was not his, the former comedian gave no details of what happened.

Instead he dedicated most of his ten-minute video to talking about what a fearless ‘speak-my-mind’ broadcaster he was, while announcing he would continue a similar show on his YouTube channel.

Dolan currently has 2,450 subscribers on the platform – and around half that number was watching this afternoon’s livestream.

He said of his time on the populist channel: ‘There isn't a syllable of anything I said across literally hundreds of shows and thousands of hours of output that I would change. 

‘I stand by it all because I'm not one of those broadcasters who licks their finger, puts it in the air and decides which way the wind is blowing. There are plenty of those around industry stooges, fakes and phonies, and I'll be naming and shaming in the months ahead.

‘But I'm different. I just say what I think. 

‘On my GB News show, Mark Dolan Tonight I was the presenter who told a guest he was talking bollocks to his face. I flung vegan bacon and ketchup around the studio, making I'll be honest, a bit of a mess, and that was to make a point about processed food. 

‘And I lit up a cigarette live on air to push back on the nanny state. Breaking not just broadcasting rules, but the leasehold rules of the building in which I was broadcasting. I could have got the channel evicted, but I had a point to make and I wanted to make it in a way that everyone would notice. 

‘That's what I'm like. It's what I do best. 

‘But I want to take things up a level now in terms of volume of output in terms of quality and in terms of impact, which is why I've decided in 2025 to launch a brand new program on this platform called quite simply. The Mark Dolan Show, which will be the most fearless program I've ever made without the censorship of Ofcom getting in the way. 

‘So here I am, Dolan 2.0 a terrifying software update. Unshackled, uncensored, unapologetic and unlimited… I won't be restricted by the constraints of a TV or radio show with four ad breaks an hour, no news bulletins and no management holding me back suggesting that this time I might have gone too far.’

He went on to say his  time at GB News ‘was only positive’ calling them ‘a terrific company with a great culture on air and off’

‘Leaving GB News was not my choice,’ he said. ‘I was fired. It took minutes. But let me tell you that they did it nicely.

‘I've received over 5,000 messages and counting from people all around the world expressing their disappointment, anger and confusion as to why this has happened, including some of the very biggest names in broadcasting and politics. Thank you so much for all of your messages.’

He also responded to Dan Wootton, who had called Dolan ‘management’s bitch’ at GB News. Wootton also claimed Dolan had ‘thrown him under the bus’ after taking his slot after he and Laurence Fox were dumped by the broadcaster last year over misogynistic comments about the political journalist Ava Evans.

Dolan called Wootton 'one of Britain's foremost journalists’ but said he ‘didn’t have much choice’ s a contracted employee other than to fill in as his bosses asked. 

‘What I will say is that blaming me is like blaming the pedestrian, watching a car crash unfold.,’ he said. ‘I was doing my job and as always, I said what I thought at the time. 

'And let me be clear, I am nobody's bitch. But if I am well, then the ‘bitch is back.’

He said his new show would deliver ‘the truth, something that you won't find in most establishment media. I'm going to be me times 100 and unlike the steady stream of warm diarrhoea passing as news that comes out of your radio and TV these days.’

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Published: 20 Dec 2024

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Past Shows

Edinburgh Fringe 2007

Mark Dolan: I’m Here To Help!


Edinburgh Fringe 2011

Mark Dolan: Sharing Too Much


Edinburgh Fringe 2013

Mark Dolan: You’re Awesome!


Edinburgh Fringe 2014

Mark Dolan Changes the World


Edinburgh Fringe 2016

Mark Dolan: Life Hacks


Agent

Patrick Bustin
Contact by email
22 Rathbone Street
W1T 1LG
Office: 020 7287 1112

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